0:02 This is an aluminum frame that costs
0:04 over a thousand less than its carbon
0:06 version. And this is the carbon version
0:09 of the exact same bike. But just because
0:11 carbon costs more, does that mean it
0:13 rides better? Today, I'm riding both
0:15 these frames back to back with the exact
0:18 same parts to find out, is carbon
0:20 actually better.
0:22 To start this test, I'm riding the
0:25 aluminum bike, my IBIS RipMo AF. This is
0:29 a 29in trail bike with 160 150 mm travel
0:31 that I've installed some of my favorite
0:33 upgrades that I'm most familiar with.
0:35 And these exact same parts will be
0:37 installed on the carbon frame after a
0:39 baseline test right here on the trail
0:42 head. This bike retails in the mid 3000
0:44 range, but N plus1 bikes always gives a
0:46 killer deal to friends of this channel
0:52 As with every mountain bike ride, we're
0:54 starting with the climb. I will be
0:56 timing segments just because, but this
0:58 test isn't about times or racing. It's
1:02 more about feel. This Ripo AF feels like
1:04 a trail bike on the climb. Efficient,
1:06 slow, and steady. Nothing too crazy. [music]
1:14 Be upfront about my bias going into this
1:16 test. I already think that this Ripmo AF
1:19 rides great. And honestly, it might even
1:21 be better than the carbon because I've
1:23 ridden both and I've never felt like
1:25 this bike was missing anything. But with
1:27 that said, with all the fancy upgrades
1:29 on this bike, got the Fox factory
1:32 suspension, carbon wheels, it still
1:35 comes in at 36.5 lb, which is pretty
1:37 heavy for a trail bike. But I'm just
1:39 curious to see if any of that actually
1:41 matters once I start pushing it. All
1:44 right, time for a flow trail. This one's
1:52 Flow trails are where you can find out a
1:54 lot about a bike. They're high-speed,
1:57 big time g forces in the BMS, and
2:02 I'm running each bike three times on the
2:04 same trail. And on these runs, I'll be
2:06 focusing on corner stiffness, how well
2:08 it carries speed, high speed chatter,
2:10 and how much pop I can get over [music]
2:15 [music] Pretty
2:27 Next up is Dragon Scales, a black
2:29 diamond chunk trail with lots of rock gardens.
2:36 This is where people say frame material
2:38 matters most. On these three runs, I'll
2:40 be focusing on how the bike behaves when
2:44 things get rough.
2:45 How compliant [music] is the bike
2:47 through the rocks? How well do the
2:49 wheels track the ground? Will one feel
2:52 smoother than the other? Which one can
2:54 hold a line better? And which frame
3:09 Well, that went pretty good. I I love
3:11 these trails and this bike is pretty
3:13 fun, man. have gotten to know this bike.
3:14 I have everything really dialed in right
3:17 now with the suspension and if I think
3:19 about just kind of how the bike feels
3:22 with the trail chatter, it does mute
3:24 everything. And I think that's part of
3:27 the aluminum bike. And if anything, I
3:29 could maybe say that this bike feels
3:31 vague. Like in the corners, it doesn't
3:34 feel like too snappy or anything. It
3:37 just feels like a natural bike. I just
3:39 really don't think a carbon frame could
3:41 make this bike dramatically better. But
3:43 that's what this test is all about. So,
3:45 let's head to the car and we're going to
3:47 swap every single part over directly
3:49 onto the carbon frame so we can find out.
3:59 I basically brought a full workshop to
4:01 the trail head for this. Two bike
4:03 stands, a folding table, and every tool
4:07 I could possibly need.
4:08 If I'm going to answer this question, I
4:10 want to do it right. To keep this test
4:13 fair, I'm swapping everything over.
4:16 Suspension, wheels, drivetrain, the
4:18 exact same parts with the exact same
4:19 settings. The only difference between
4:21 these two rip modes will be the frame
4:23 material. Even the geometry is identical.
4:25 identical.
4:27 Doing this out here was a ton of work,
4:29 but I've wanted to test this back to
4:32 back for years. [music]
4:33 [music]
4:35 Well, with everything off, I made it
4:37 easy on myself. So, I got the rear brake
4:38 already routed. The droppers are the
4:41 same. They're routed. Let's go ahead and
4:42 weigh these things to see what the
4:45 difference is.
4:51 This is 12.04 lb. And the carbon 9.33.
4:52 9.33.
4:56 That means this thing is 2.7 lb lighter.
4:57 And everybody always says that carbon is
4:59 like a pound or a pound and a half
5:03 lighter. I did not expect 2.7. So, I'm
5:04 excited to build this thing. Let's do it.
5:17 So, about this carbon frame, on paper,
5:19 carbon can be laid up to be stiffer
5:22 [music] in some areas and more compliant
5:24 in others. That's why it's marketed as
5:26 the superior frame material. It's
5:28 lighter, stronger, and more efficient.
5:30 That's what they claim at least. But the
5:32 real question is whether [music] any of
5:34 that actually shows up when you're riding.
5:36 riding.
5:38 But after about an hour of building, we
5:41 finally have our fully swapped over Ibis
5:45 Ripmo V3 Carbon. [music]
6:03 Well, the bike is complete and uh man, I
6:05 built a lot of bikes, but that was a lot
6:07 of work, especially here on the trail.
6:09 But I'm glad it all went smooth. But the
6:11 first thing I did was I went straight to
6:13 the scale. And I just can't believe this
6:16 bike is under 34 lb. I think this thing
6:18 looks pretty cool, too. But let's go see
6:28 Right off the bat, you can call it
6:31 placebo, but I think I already feel the
6:33 weight difference.
6:36 Just kind of gliding uphill just a
6:38 little bit easier.
6:39 But I mean, it's still climbing like a
6:52 All right, made it to the top. And not
6:54 going to lie, my legs are burning a
6:56 little bit, [laughter] but I did notice
6:59 a little bit of a difference. Marginal
7:02 gains. And that kind of pains me because
7:04 in my mind, I kind of want the aluminum
7:06 to be just as good. And I would love to
7:09 say like, ah, carbon's not worth it. But
7:10 I definitely noticed a little bit of
7:12 something. So, I'm going to get warmed
7:14 up on this trail. Just a little jump
7:43 All right. Well, the things I'm looking
7:44 for with this carbon frame on the jump
7:48 trails, I want to know if maybe uh it's
7:50 a little bit more snappy or if I can
7:53 hold momentum better. Maybe I don't
7:54 know, I can pump better. I don't know.
7:56 We'll have to find out. But I definitely
7:59 already felt that it corners a little
8:00 bit better in those really ged out
8:02 corners. And I got to say one thing
8:05 before we go any further. I know I get
8:07 comments all the time that say, "Oh, you
8:10 got to be a racer to go get the benefits
8:12 from carbon." But I just don't like that
8:14 mindset. I believe that any rider can
8:17 feel the benefit of high-end parts like
8:20 carbon or Fox factory suspension. You
8:22 don't have to be a racer or a pro to
8:24 feel the benefits of that. So, with that
8:25 out of the way, let's go hit that jump
8:27 trail medieval and really get this high
8:30 speed going.
8:32 All right, here we go on Medieval. This
8:47 Oh yeah,
8:48 this is definitely more direct on the corners.
8:55 And maybe the trail chatter is a little
9:06 But this is definitely holding speed better.
9:08 better.
9:17 Yeah, I had to work way less hard
9:20 [music] to clear that jump. Wow.
9:26 >> [music]
9:29 >> Well, the flow trail is complete. And I
9:30 didn't really think that the carbon
9:33 would be better, but boy was I wrong.
9:35 The big thing was the turning. It felt
9:37 like it was just more direct, more
9:39 planted. I don't know. It was weird. But
9:41 one negative was definitely I could feel
9:42 the chatter of the trail a little bit
9:45 more, but it wasn't even that bad. Like
9:47 I feel like I could maybe change up the
9:48 rebound and the compression front and
9:51 rear and that would go away. But the
9:52 next test could really show the carbon
9:54 being a lot stiffer and everything. And
9:56 that's dragon scales. We're going to
9:58 test out some chunk and really feel out
10:00 this bike. All right, this is the trail
10:04 that I'm most excited for. The chunk
10:13 Whoa. Almost lost the front end. Whoa.
10:24 Yeah, I keep almost losing the front
10:27 end. Whoa.
10:29 Well, that first run was scary, dude.
10:31 I'm going to go ahead and uh maybe add
10:34 some low speed compression. Maybe some
10:35 low speed rebound cuz the front wheel
10:38 just wanted to compress and just wash
10:40 out. That was scary. All right, take two.
10:42 two.
10:44 All right, take two. Added more high and
10:47 low speed compression and opened up the
10:58 Okay, I actually have traction now.
11:00 That was so weird.
11:03 Oh, yeah. With my confidence back in the
11:05 corners, I was still messing up the
11:08 exits of the corners a little bit. Oh,
11:09 and this whole day, the bike developed
11:11 this weird chirping sound, and I never
11:13 could figure out what it was as maybe
11:16 the front brake. With the carbon frame,
11:18 I could definitely feel the chatter and
11:20 vibrations much more. Having ridden and
11:22 tested a lot of bikes, the goal isn't to
11:24 make the chatter disappear. It's to make
11:27 it manageable, which it was on this
11:32 carbon frame. It felt sporty and faster.
11:36 Oh, yeah. That was good. All right, the
11:37 test is complete and I've reviewed the
11:40 times and I can confidently say that the
11:43 carbon frame felt faster, it was faster,
11:46 and has a higher performance ceiling.
11:48 This bike climbed better, it felt more
11:50 responsive on the flow trail, and it had
11:52 more pop. And once I adjusted the
11:54 suspension, it felt more precise and
11:57 faster, but I could feel more trail
11:59 chatter. And a bike like this would
12:01 require more time dialing it in to
12:03 really unlock what it's capable of. The
12:05 aluminum, on the other hand, felt
12:07 comfortable right away. It was easier to
12:09 set up and it felt planted and just
12:12 predictable without much tweaking. So,
12:14 this really comes down to performance
12:17 ceiling versus ease and comfort. From a
12:19 pure performance standpoint, carbon is
12:21 better, but that's only part of the
12:24 decision. The Ripmo AF Dior build is
12:27 37.49 with Rock Shock suspension. Then
12:30 the carbon Dior build is $51.99 and that
12:32 comes with Fox suspension. and you got a
12:34 performance fork and a Fox factory
12:36 shock. So, it really comes down to your
12:38 needs, how much money you have, and
12:40 whether that extra performance is worth
12:42 the extra money. So, if I had to pick
12:44 one, knowing what I know now after this
12:47 backto-back test, well, my answer is
12:49 going to surprise you. On a trail bike
12:51 in my area with shorter climbs, I'd
12:53 rather go for comfort and ease of mind.
12:56 And for me, that's the aluminum version.
12:57 And I also like the fact that if a rock
12:59 kicks up and hits the frame, big deal.
13:02 Well, just a little cosmetic scratch. A
13:03 bike like this is just a little bit more
13:06 carefree to ride. And for me, that
13:08 settles it. Going with the aluminum. But
13:09 hey, if you made it this far in the
13:11 video, let me hook you up. My bike shop
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